VALE DO AMANHECER

Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of Dawn) is a religious community located in the Federal District of Brazil six kilometers from the satellite city of Planaltina and 50 kilometers from Brasilia.

Conceived by the ex-truck driver and medium, Tia Neiva (born Neiva Chaves Zelaya--died 1985), it was installed in its present location in 1969. The Valley occupies an area belonging to the government of the Federal District. There are approximately 500 residents, many of whom, according to the official web site, are abandoned children taken in by Tia Neiva. A juridicial entity, called Lar das Crian as de Matildes, was created to give legality to the community. Around the Valley there is a community of approximately 20,000 people, many of whom work or have connections to the Valley.

Among the residents are the directors who worked with Tia Neiva, some families of mediums, those who take care of the maintenance, and occasional people taken in to cure alcoholism.

The focal point of the community is the Temple of Dawn, built of stone, in the format of an ellipse, with a covered area of about 2,400 square meters. Inside you have the impression you are inside a colored labyrinth with several distinct spaces, each one with its function connected to the spiritual works carried out daily. At the back of the temple there is an enormous statue of Pai Seta Branca, the pre-Columbian spirit who allegedly began to talk to Tia Neiva in 1957. He is always shown as an attractive Indian, young and muscular, wearing a blue tunic, a long headdress and leather sandals. In his hands there is an arrow.

Nearby there is a complex built in the open air, called Solar dos M diums or Estrela Candente (Shooting Star). It has artificial waterfalls, a lake in the shape of a star, a radius of 79 meters, lakes, staircases of stone, and grass huts. There are several statues of orixas of the Candombl religion, like Jana na and Iemanj .

The Valley has a primary school of more than 200 students, under government control, restaurants, an auto repair shop, and a bookshop specializing in religious and spiritualist works.

The sect, if we can call it such, practices a complex syncretism with elements of Christianity, Spiritism, mysticism, Afro-Brazilian religions, belief in flying saucers, and ancient Egyptian beliefs.

In the Valley there are two types of people: Mediums and Clients. Between three and four thousand people visit the Valley every day seeking help for their spiritual or personal problems.

The Mediums wear special robes with bright colors. They consider themselves the reincarnation of an extraterrestrial people, "the Equitunas", who supposedly landed on the Earth 32,000 years ago, and later returned in successive reincarnations in civilizations like the Hittites, the Jonians, the Dorians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Mayans etc. The Equitunas supposedly established themselves in the region of the Andes and are buried in Lake Titicaca, which was formed by a tear of the Shooting Star. According to the cosmology of the followers of the doctrine, Tia Neiva commanded the spiritual mission of this people on the Earth following the orders of the supreme commander, Pai Seta Branca (Father White Arrow), who seems to be an amalgam of several indigenous figures, Incan and American-Indian.